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The best thing that the West can do in the Middle East is mind its own business and stay out. It baffles me that so many people don't seem to realize that many of the problems that we have in the Middle East today are results of Western (especially American/British/French) meddling from the past.

Will it last?
Can Washington influence ever be beat?
Will Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US beat them?

First, if what you say is true and the Turks abandon the West, then the next time the Russians threaten the Turkish straits, the Turks should not come crying for help to us or anyone else. They will be on their own.

Second it will be the supreme balancing act to keep mostly Sunni Turkey and mostly Shia Iran on the same team, especially if the Turkish people see Iran increasingly interfering in the politics of Sunni nations. They can probably do it in the short run if the Turkish government is able to keep the relationship on a secular basis but I don't think it can be maintained in the long run.

Regarding Turkey and Russia, they can either work together in Central Asia (where many of the people are Turkish related) or they could wind up competing with each other.

This has nothing to do with Sunni, Shia and Trump. This has been fermenting since before the Arab Spring with Iran at the head. Iran has been building bases as it moved westward in Syria and slowly into Lebanon (SA and UAE have seen this coming as they banned their citizens from travelling to Lebanon in early 2016). Iran has been working in the background connecting to Turkey while the world was being misdirected by ISIS. Their only real hurdle left is the Iraq/USA connection. The EU/US needs to finally open their eyes to the fact that Erdogan cannot be trusted. Thus removing them from NATO and taking baking or destroying NATO supplied armaments.

First, if what you say is true and the Turks abandon the West, then the next time the Russians threaten the Turkish straits, the Turks should not come crying for help to us or anyone else. They will be on their own.

Second it will be the supreme balancing act to keep mostly Sunni Turkey and mostly Shia Iran on the same team, especially if the Turkish people see Iran increasingly interfering in the politics of Sunni nations. They can probably do it in the short run if the Turkish government is able to keep the relationship on a secular basis but I don't think it can be maintained in the long run.

Regarding Turkey and Russia, they can either work together in Central Asia (where many of the people are Turkish related) or they could wind up competing with each other.

Why does it require extreme balancing to keep Sunni Turkey and Shia Iran on the same team? It's not like Turkey hasn't made strong alliances with Christian nations (eg most NATO nations) and even Jewish (Israel).

These alliances are geopolitically driven, this is why Iran and Russia are in a alliance despite 200-300 years ago, the Russian empire began picking apart at the Iran. Most of the Caucasus republics that are now independent and used to be part of the USSR were part of Iran before Russia took them.

This is part of the larger problem of the amateurs leading this nation. Trump and his group of arrogant cronies are undoing nearly 80 years of American leadership starting with Truman and Marshall. Trumps recklessness is destroying, or rather has destroyed, alliances and replaced them with nothing. Others are filling the void. Trump is going leave this nation weaker than it has been,since anytime before since the American Revolution.

This the only first step in the new international order that will come. The nation will pay the price

Will it last?
Can Washington influence ever be beat?
Will Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US beat them?

Yes and no.

It's a merry-go-round for the gunmen: anything to keep the flow of arms, it's good business.

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